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SOIL
9
horticulture.com.au/grower-focus/cherry | Winter 2018
Grey and yellow soil colour indicate
anaerobic soils;
Hydrogen sulfide is an indication
of lack of air;
Good soils can be in poor condition,
while conversely poor soils can be in
good condition;
Organic matter (OM) levels are
influenced by rainfall and clay
content. OM is 58% carbon, the
remainder is other nutrients;
Compost can increase OM but does
not rejuvenate soil;
Moss on the soil surface is a sign that
soil is not very active;
In perennial situations, fungi are
predominant over bacteria; and
Improving soil physical structure will
increase numbers of native bacteria
and fungi.
Determining soil condition
There are some relatively easy ways to
assess soil condition without expensive
laboratory tests, although depending on
what you find it may still be useful to send
some samples for a full analysis.
Soilmoisturecontent(%)
Conventional
Alternate
Alt
+EM
Conv
+EM
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Crackedfruit(%)
2013/14
Conventional
(a)
2015/16 2016/17
2014/15
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Alternate
Improved fruit set and pack-out
The alternate regime resulted in higher fruit
set than the conventional in most years,
but EM had no effect. There was a general
trend for increase in percentage of A-grade
fruit in the alternate regime compared
with the conventional in most years. A
significant increase in A-grade fruit in years
two, three and four was associated with EM
application. Overall, the alternate regime
showed increased fruit set and pack-out,
and a reduction in the percentage of reject
fruit in most years.
Reduced fruit cracking
There was significantly less fruit cracking in
the alternate regime in years three and four,
which both had significant rain events just
prior to the harvest period. EM application
reduced the incidence of cracking under
both alternate and conventional regimes in
every season.
Other quality parameters
In all treatments, firmness, total soluble
solids content (TSS) and stem retention
force met Australian ‘export finest’
standards in all years of the study.
TSS content increased with increasing
mycorrhizal colonisation. Both firmness and
TSS content were higher in the alternate
treatment in some years, but not others.
Field day – key points
As part of the project an on-site field day
was held with University of Tasmania soil
scientist Dr Bill Cotching. Dr Cotching had
not previously been to the trial site and did
not know what the treatments were. He
dug holes in the various treatments and
discussed what he found.
The key points that arose were:
Soil structure is as much about
growing roots as the physical structure
of the soil;
Clods indicate lack of biology and/or
root material;
Reconstituting soil requires actively
growing roots (plant roots help break
up clods and improve structure);
Worms are a strong indicator of soil
health;
Soil aeration is important for good soil
structure;
Penetrometerresistance(kPa)
Conventional
Alternate
Wheel
rut
Alt
+EM
Conv
+EM
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Crackedfruit(%)
2013/14
No EM
(b)
2015/16 2016/17
2014/15
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Plus EM
Figure 4: (a) the effect of nutrient regime and (b) effective
microbe application on fruit cracking.
Figure 3: (a) good soil structure in alternate plots; (b) compacted soil in inter-row wheel rut.
Figure 1: Improved soil moisture content in alternate plots
Figure 2: Alternate treatments reduced soil compaction
(lowered penetrometer resistance)
(a)
(b)